Saudi Arabia Releases Ethiopian Billionaire Al Amoudi

WSJ- Saudi authorities released billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi after nearly 15 months of detention, Ethiopian officials said, the latest in a wave of prominent businesspeople to regain their freedom after being rounded up in November 2017.

Mr. Al Amoudi, born in Ethiopia and a Saudi citizen, was onceconsidered one of the world’s richest people, with a net worth of asmuch as $15 billion, according to Forbes. But his still unexplaineddetention raised questions about his ownership of a far-flung businessempire that includes Swedish oil assets, Ethiopian agriculture and Saudiconstruction and real estate.

Mr. Al Amoudi was among hundreds of Saudi royals, businessmenand government officials rounded up in late 2017 and initially held atRiyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. Saudi authorities said they were crackingdown on the country’s endemic corruption, but some involved said it was away for Prince Mohammed to consolidate power.

Other wealthy Saudi detainees had to pay large fees to procuretheir freedom, as Saudi authorities said they were aiming to reach $100billion in settlements from the corruption roundup.

A person familiar with Mr. Al Amoudi’s situation said: “He paid and he paid a lot” for his freedom.

Most Ritz detainees were released after a couple of months, butMr. Al Amoudi was among several dozen who were transferred to otherdetention sites and held longer. Several have been released recently asSaudi Arabia works to defuse an international human-rights uproar overthe killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agentsin Istanbul.